


A New Mission

by JustCaity



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-08
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-05-05 14:25:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5378447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustCaity/pseuds/JustCaity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint Barton gets called in to be friends with a Russian assassin whom was previously brainwashed by Hydra. What could go wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is somethings that I thought would be really cool. Feedback would be awesome!

Aw, phone.

Why does his phone have to be going off right now, and in the middle of his messed up sleep patterns? This had better be good. He had finally fallen asleep at 5:26 in the morning. He's been having a harder and harder time sleeping since the incident; every time he falls asleep, those cold, blue eyes sneak into Clint's mind and he wakes up sweating and panting.

Sighing, Clint reaches over to grab his hearing aids and turns them on before putting them into his ears. He grabs his phone and answers it without looking at the name. "What."

"Barton." That voice sounds familiar. "You need to come in." Whoop, there it is.

"Fury. It is the asscrack of morning, and you woke me up to tell me to come in," Clint replied sleepily. "No."

Clint could hear Fury sigh through the phone. "First of all, that was not a request, but an order. Second of all, it is after one-o'clock." Clint was going to reply with a smartass comment, but Fury beat him to it, "I'll meet you in front of SHIELD in thirty minutes." Then he hung up.

Sighing, Clint set his phone back on the bedside table and got out of bed. He got dressed in blue jeans, a purple shirt, and a black hoodie with the Hawkeye logo on the front. Not knowing how long his "mission" will be, he packs a bag with a couple of pairs of jeans and extra shirts.

While leaving his room in Avengers Tower, he grabbed his phone and his bag, and headed to the common kitchen area. In the kitchen, he saw that Steve had just made a pot of coffee.

"Hey, Clint. I didn't think you'd be up this early," Steve said, already moving to get Clint's favorite mug from the cupboard. 

"Not today, Steve," Clint says, sitting down at the kitchen island. "It's a travel mug today." At Steve's confused face, Clint elaborates, "I got called in by Fury. New mission, apparently."

Steve nods in understanding and pulls out Clint's favorite travel mug with the Hawkeye logo on it. Steve silently pours Clint's coffee for him and hands it over after putting the lid on.

"Thanks, Cap," Clint says before taking a sip of his warm coffee. He stands up and moves to the elevator to go down to the parking garage. Clint hits the button to summon the elevator and steps in once it arrives. He turns back and waves to Steve as he pushes the button for the garage and the doors slide shut.

Once in the garage, he finds his SHIELD-issued black car and puts his bag in the back before getting into the front seat and starting up the car. He starts up the car, waiting for it to get warm before putting his seatbelt on and starting his drive to SHIELD headquarters. He takes lazy sips of his coffee as he waits in traffic, running late to his meeting with Fury.

When Clint finally does arrive at SHIELD, he parks, takes in his bag and coffee, and enters the building where Fury is impatiently waiting for him near the front door.

"You're late," Fury says as Clint walks up to him. They fall in step as Fury leads them through the corridors.

Clint looks at his watch and suppresses the urge to facepalm. "I'm one minute late, Director. Why'd you call me in anyways?" Clint asks curiously, tilting his head to the side as they turn another corner.

Fury stayed silent for several minutes, thinking carefully about his answer. "We can't talk here. We need somewhere private." That was all that Clint got out of him for the rest of the way to who-knows-where.

Fury leads Clint down to the lowest level of SHIELD and down a long hallway. At the end of the hallway is a door with two armed guards standing outside of it. Fury stops in the middle of the hallway, equal distance from the elevator and the door.

Fury turns to face Clint. "Inside that door," Fury points down the hallway, "is a weapon. The most dangerous being on the planet is through that door, and you're going to be his friend. You're going to talk to him, and hopefully, he'll talk to you. You'll get food sent to you when you get hungry. You'll come down here from nine in the morning until the guards relieve you at five o'clock. Any questions?"

Wow, that was a lot of information. "Yeah," Clint said, "What's his name?" 

Fury smiled. "His name is James Buchanon Barnes. He responds to Bucky, too."

Clint nods. "He still have the metal arm?" It's an obvious question. Everyone in the Avengers know that the Winter Soldier is Bucky Barnes.

Fury sighs, but nods. "We couldn't remove it without killing him."

Clint nods. He looks up, sighs, and looks Fury in the eyes. "Alright, Fury. I'm ready. Let me go annoy his balls off!" Clint says eagerly, despite his rough night and mission ahead of him.

Fury looks him over and nods. "I'll take your bag to your SHIELD room. The guards will let you in, and bring you food when you request it. Good luck." And with that, Fury turns and heads back to the elevator. Clint starts walking again when the doors close and Fury is nowhere in sight.

When Clint reaches the guards, he's asked to show them an ID. He pulls out his wallet and shows the guard his driver's license. The guard nods his approval and goes to open the door. "Oh! And can you send down a bowl of cheerios?" Clint asked the guard.

"Sure thing, Hawkeye. Anything else?" The guard asked, hand paused on the handle of the cell door.

"Nope! Thanks, bro!" Clint says. The guard opens the door, lets Clint walk inside, and then closed it quickly.

Clint took in his surroundings. He noticed a toilet in the left corner of the room, with a sink next to it. There's a table with two chairs at it, one on each side of the table and perfectly aligned. The light is in the middle of the room and is in a dome cover, shining light throughout the entire room. The last thing is a bed in the far right corner of the room. It's made perfectly, without a single crinkle or wrinkle. Next to the bed is a little table. On top of the bed, lies James Buchanon Barnes, who is reading a book.

James looks up from his book, obviously looking Clint over and assessing him in his mind, before returning to his book.

"Hey, I'm Clint," he introduced. James looked up to him, and closed his book before putting it on the bedside table and sitting up. 

He doesn't answer, just sits there.

Clint accepts this and sits down at the table. "I don't mind if you don't talk, but I will. I only ask that you seem like you're listening at least sonewhat, deal?" He waited for a response for a few seconds, but before anyone could say anything, there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it," Clint said to Bucky.

Clint stood up, left his coffee on the table, and went to the door. He did a special knock on it and then it opened up. 

"Hawkeye, here's the food you requested," the guard said, handing him the big bowl of cheerios. 

"Thanks, bro. I'll see you at five," Clint said before the door closed the whole way. Turning back to James, Clint sat back down at the table and began eating his breakfast.

After several minutes of silence, James got up and sat across from Clint in the second chair. Clint masked his surprise and continued eating while James studied him and his cheerios. 

"Want one?" Clint asked after James had stared at him for five solid minutes. James looked at him, then slowly reached his hand out, palm up as he waited for Clint to put one in his hand. Clint dropped a few into James's palm and observed him nonchalantly as James looked at the questioningly and ate them, one by one.

"If you want more, you can help yourself," Clint said, going to take a sip of coffee from his travel mug.

"Alright, back to introductions!" Clint announced, setting his mug back down on the table. "As I've said before, I'm Clint Barton. I'm an agent of SHIELD, and I love dogs and coffee. Would you like to introduce yourself, or continue to stay silent?" Clint asks, hoping that James will respond in words.

James stays silent, and Clint sighs. He was really hoping that James would at least give him one-word answers, anything, really. Clint's about to start talking again, but James actually opens his mouth and talks to him. 

"Why you?" He asks, voice quiet and uncertain.

Clint blinks and forms an answer in his mind before saying it out loud. "I was chosen because of our somewhat similar background. I don't like talking about it, but you could be the exception," Clint said after a minute. 

They're both quiet for several minutes, with the only sounds being their breathing and the sound of cheerios being eaten from both people. Clint doesn't do well in silence for too long. It reminds him of how deaf he really is, so he always has to have sound around him. Not that he'd say this to James, of course.

"So, anyways, I'm just going to bore you with my life now. It might be interesting to you, or you'll want to throttle me by the end of each day. Oh well, here goes nothing!" Clint enthusiastically said. "I'm an archer and, as you may or may not know, there aren't many of these. Well, I'm the best, and..." Clint trailed off into one of his stories when he shot sixteen arrows at once, and each of them had nailed its target. 

Before either of them had realized what time it was, there was a knock at the door before the guard poked his head in.

"Agent Barton. It's five o'clock. You can leave now," the guard said before closing the door again.

Clint looked back to James and smiled. "Well, looks like I'm off the clock for today. I'll be here again tomorrow at nine o'clock!" Clint said, standing up. "Actually, I'll probably be a little late. I always am." With that said, Clint waved bye to James and then turned to knock on the door to signal he was ready to leave.

Clint stepped out of the room, empty travel mug in hand, and said bye to the guards before going upstairs to his room that he was assigned all those years ago. He stepped into his room and smiled. It had been a long time since he last slept in this room, and now he would be sleeping in it every night for who knows how long. 

He noticed his bag with his clothes in it, laying neatly on his bed. He grabbed a pair of sweats, boxers, and a black shirt before heading into his bathroom to take a quick shower.

After his nice, warm shower, Clint got dressed and headed down to the cafeteria for some much needed grub. 

He saw a lot of familiar, and unfamiliar, faces along the way. The new recruits couldn't make eye contact with him, but other than that, most people seem to recognized him. They probably saw him fight in The Battle of New York last year, and know him as Hawkeye more than Agent Barton, which is fine with him. He got in line and got his meal from the lunch ladies, whom love him, but probably only because he flirts with everyone.

Clint eats his dinner at an empty table in silence. There aren't very many people in the cafeteria, most people like to eat out or in their rooms. Clint usually does that, but he didn't want to be alone right now. 

Finishing up, Clint throws away his trash before heading to the archery range. If he has to stay at SHIELD HQ for awhile, then he might as well get in some good practice times.

The range isn't as good as the one at the tower, but Clint makes do. He grabs his usual bow when he's at SHIELD and starts shooting arrow after arrow. He shoots from all kinds of angles, even hanging upside down for the rafters. After about an hour, Clint calls it a day and retrieves his arrows from the various dummies with bullseyes on them, all with arrows in the red center. Clint puts everything back where he got it from and left the shooting range. 

Clint leaves the building itself, needing some fresh air before he collapses on his bed for the night. He's just about to head back before he hears a shout for help. Clint doesn't even think before he's running towards the sound, finding the origins in an alley that was a block away.

At the beginning of the alley, Clint saw a man harassing a young lady. Clint doesn't even think. He will not let that man sexually harass that lady. Before he knows it, he's knocking the man away from the woman and telling her to run home. She immediately does as told, leaving Clint to deal with her abuser.

Clint had gotten distracted when telling the young woman to run, that when he turned back, he got a fist to the eye. 

"Ow, fuck," Clint mutters as he stumbles back a few steps. He regains his footing in record time and he swings in the critical spots to knock him out without hurting him too much. The other guy lands quite a few punches that will ache later on, but all he focuses on right now is knocking this asshole out.

After a few more punches, from both sides, the guy goes down to lay unconscious on the ground. He's still breathing, so he'll be fine—unfortunately.

Sighing, Clint puts up his hood and walks home to SHIELD. He goes straight to his room and examines himself in the mirror to check for any serious damage. He's definitely going to have a black eye tomorrow on his right eye, an ugly bruise on the right side of his jaw, and a lighter bruise on his left cheek.

He decides he'll ignore his wounds until tomorrow. He's too tired to play doctor on himself. He walks over to his bed and plops down onto it, hoping to get a few hours of sleep before he has to wake up to go be buddy-buddy with Barnes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another day with prisoner James Barnes is full of stories told by Clint. This has got to be interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Another chapter, as you can see! Enjoy, I guess. I had fun writing this chapter, so I hope it's good.

Shit. He's late. His first official day, and he's running late. That doesn't look good on paper. 

Clint hurriedly runs out of his room with a hoodie and sweat pants on, a poptart in one hand, and an ice pack in the other. He runs down the halls to the elevator, which earns him strange looks from everyone he passes. He gets in the elevator and pushes the button for the bottom most floor repeatedly until the doors close. He eats the entire poptart in the elevator and throws the wrapper in the trashcan when he reaches his floor. 

Two guards are standing in front of Barnes's door, as per usual. He puts the ice pack to his eye and fishes out his ID for the guard to check. Clint asked for a cup of coffee before the guard opened the door, then closed it behind him with a promise of coffee in a few minutes. 

Bucky was sitting at the table, in the chair closest to his bed. He was staring at the door, waiting for Clint. 

"Hey, sorry I'm late. I didn't wake up to my alarm right away," Clint apologizes. He sits down opposite of James, but he feels the other man's gaze on him, particularly on his bruised face. He put the ice pack back on his eye and sits there in silence while trying to think of something to say.

"What the fuck happened to your face?" James asks, startling Clint out of his thoughts. Clint's honestly just surprised that James spoke a whole sentence that wasn't one or two words. Progress.

"You should see the other guy," Clint boasts with a cheeky grin. He sees the blank face that James has on his face after the comment so he just decides to tell him about his night last night. "I got beat up while saving this lady from assault."

Clint looks at James nonchalantly, but he's also studying his reaction. Nothing. James Buchanon Barnes is good at hiding his emotions than Clint originally thought possible.

James doesn't say anything else, but if he had, then he would've been interrupted by a knock at the door. Clint calmy stands up, so as not to startle the deadly, Russian assassin, and walks over to the door. He gives his own knock of acknowledgement.

The door opens up and a guard gives him his cup of coffee. "Thank you for saving my life," Clint says to him, taking his coffee delicately in his hands. 

The guard smiles and says, "No problem, Hawkeye. Just tell us if you need anything else." He closed the door then, leaving Clint with his beloved cup of coffee and James Barnes.

Clint turns back around and sits in his previously occupied chair. He takes a big gulp of his coffee and almost spits it out because it burns his mouth. 

Clint is silent for awhile, only because he doesn't know what to say. James is staring at him with those stoic, yet expecting, eyes of his, and Clint just knows he has to say something—so he does.

"I used to be a carnie, ya know," Clint started. He likes telling stories about his carnie days, but everyone seems to float around the topic like it'll break him or something. He can finally talk about them with someone who won't be uncomfortable with the subject. 

"That's where I got my start as an archer too," Clint continued. "Everybody loved me: The Amazing Hawkeye, never missed a shot. I was only sixteen when I got my own act," Clint paused, feeling reminiscent about his memories. He tried to block out the bad ones that came with his circus life, but they always find a way to enter his mind. Luckily, he can hide his emotions when he wants to so he doesn't show his bad memories on his face.

James looks intrigued at Clint's stories of his circus life, even if it's not on his face, it's in his once-dead eyes. He's listening to every word, not to use as a tactic to take Clint down one day, but because he's genuinely interested about this. James never thought that he'd be interested in anything this fast after Hydra fucked with his brain.

Clint pauses every now and then to take a sip of his cooling coffee, or to readjust the ice pack on his eye, but then he jumps right back into the story where he left off at. Clint enjoys James's company, oddly enough, and James is beginning to like having Clint there as well. 

A couple of hours later, Clint orders food for them to share, well, if James even likes what he ordered. James still hasn't spoken since the comment he made about Clint's face. 

The food comes and goes, and an hour later, Clint finds himself trying to make James smile. It was proving to be harder than he originally thought.

However, James does almost manage a ghost of a smile when Clint tells him about the time he lost a bet to Tony. Clint had to wear a bird costume (feathers and all) and run through SHIELD while screeching, "CAW CAW MOTHERFUCKERS!" at the top of his lungs. It ended badly when he fell out of a window, but luckily, it was only from the second floor. The fiasco ended with a broken leg, bruised rib, and an embarrassing explanation to tell the SHIELD doctors. 

Clint is surprised that James didn't crack a smile throughout that story. It's the one everyone laughs at! He feels insulted.

Before Clint can get too insulted, there's a knock at the door. He slowly turns around and looks at the door, confusedly. He hadn't ordered any food recently. 

The knock is louder this time so Clint rises from his chair and does his acknowledgement knock. The door opens halfway through his second knock, causing him to almost hit Director Fury on the head. 

"Sir," Clint says, surprised. He immediately straightens up and goes serious at the site of the director.

"At ease, Barton," Fury says after a second. Clint relaxes into his normal stance. Surprisingly, Fury doesn't take Clint into the hall. He comes into the room and shuts the door, regarding James with a head nod to acknowledge his presence. "I need to tell you something."

Clint nods and glanced at James quickly. "Do you want to tell me somewhere private?"

"No, I just have some news for you," Fury said. Clint nods and listens carefully to Fury. It must be important if he came here to talk a couple of hours before he can leave. "Agent Romanoff is going on a month-long mission. She leaves in an hour." Oh, so that's why.

Clint nods, taking in the information. "Thank you, sir. Can I call her before she leaves?" Clint asks, a hopeful glint in his eyes.

Fury sighs and nods. "Make it quick, but yes. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to finish getting Agent Romanoff's flight ready." Then he turned around, did his exit knock, and left without another word.

Clint sighed and fished out his phone. He turned to James and signaled with his phone his intentions. "Do you mind?" Clint asks, not wanting to be rude in front of the fucking winter soldier.

James shrugged, so Clint took that as a sign to go ahead and call Natasha. He dials the number and waits for her to pick up while facing the boring, white wall. She picks up on the second ring.

"Clint? Aren't you supposed to be making friends with Steve's bestie?" Natasha's teasing voice filled his ear and he couldn't help but to smile.

"I am, Nat. I just wanted to talk with you before you left on your mission," Clint replied, turning to lean against the wall, now facing James.

Natasha sighed on the other end. It sounded like she was moving around, so she was probably packing for the mission or double-checking all of her equipment. "Get back to your mission, Clint, and I'll get back to my mission."

"Aw, come on, Nat. You have a whole hour to kill before you leave!" Clint pointed out in a childish manner.

"Clint. My mission is to blend in with mobsters; I might actually have to kill someone," Nat said seriously. 

Clint whistled. "Wow, way to kill the atmosphere, Nat. But, fine! I'll get back to my life, and you go on your mission. Don't you dare die out there, Tasha," Clint said sternly.

Natasha let out a small laugh. "I won't die. You don't let that guy take advantage of you. I'll talk to you in a month, carnie," Tasha said, teasingly. Clint grinned.

"You better call me after your mission. See ya in a month, Soviet," Clint said. He heard another laugh on the other end before the line went dead. Clint smiled while putting his phone away. He always enjoyed a nice talk with Natasha before her missions.

Clint turned his focus back to James, who was still sitting where Clint had last seen him. "Alright, where were we?" Clint asks, sitting back down in his chair.

Clint thought about what story he could tell next. He has a lot of them, all from his SHIELD days, his circus days, and his Avengers day—which are still happening. He decides on a story with him and Nat on a mission.

"I've got it!" Clint exclaimed aloud. "I was just on the phone with Nat, so why not tell one of our famous stories! Some background information is needed though."

Clint paused to gather his thoughts before speaking aloud. "First of all, Natasha is my partner in crime. I would die for her, and she'd do the same for me. Not only is she my partner, but she's also my best friend. She also has a different kind of humor. She's hilarious, but you have to be thinking like her to understand the jokes. And the most important thing that pertains to this story is that I saved her life." Clint leaned in close to James, whom did not lean back nor get away from Clint. "This is the story about the time I got kidnapped by a mob and had to wait until Natasha saved me." 

Clint leaned back in his chair and thought about how to start the story. He decided that the beginning is a very good place to start. He started his grand story by explaining his initial mission, and how it started out as a solo mission. 

Clint explained in glorious detail and extravagant gestures about how he had to infiltrate the mob boss's building and convince everyone he was supposed to be there. Clint went on and explained how he made one little slip up which got him arrested, examined, and tortured for days on end without food, with the exception of one cracker a day and a small cup of dirty water.

Clint did not leave out any of his punishments, especially since he refused to give up any information, including his real name and workplace. Clint was held hostage for two weeks, which was one week longer than how long his mission was supposed to last. He was starved, tortured, and beaten in all kinds of way, and none of them were enjoyable. 

Clint got choked up when he was describing his feels of being all alone when he was left in his tiny cell every night. Yet, he continues on with his story, next explaining in great detail about how Nat found him and single-handedly kicked everyone's ass just to save him. 

Natasha had carried his mostly-unconscious ass out of his cell and to the designated extraction point. Clint tells the story how it happened, giving Natasha the credit of saving his life and getting him to the SHIELD jet quickly. When they had gotten to SHIELD, Nat carried him to the infirmary, while the other agents cleared the path as they saw her coming, all of them with looks of confusion and worry.

James was listening to the extravagant tale closely, hanging onto Clint's every word. That means that James is highly disappointed and annoyed when a knock comes at the door, and right before Clint reads the verdict of his injuries.

Sighing, Clint turns around as the door opens to reveal a guard. "Hawkeye, it's five o'clock. You can leave now."

Clint nods and says, "Thank you, bro. I'll knock when I'm done with the story. It's a good one."

The guard nods and closes the door to resume his post. Clint turns back towards James with a light smile on his face. "Right. Where was I?" Clint asked for affect. "Oh! I know! My injury list!" Clint remembers excitedly.

Clint goes on about his injuries, remembering every single one like it had just happened. Three boken ribs, one bruised rib, a fractured wrist, a broken leg, a mild concussion, and a nasty gash on his forehead, along with other small cuts and bruises throughout his body. James internally cringed as his list went on, but finally ended with the bad gash on his head. 

Clint stretches out the ending, making sure to explain every little detail, like he always does. Twenty minutes later, when Clint finally finishes explaining how long he had to be in the infirmary (and how many time he tried to escape) and how Natasha wouldn't let him go on any solo missions for a year after that happened.

After Clint finished his story, he sat back in his chair with a proud smile on his face. He casually checks his watch and his eyes widen, almost comically. "Shit!" He exclaims.

He hurriedly stands up and, as he's knocking on the door, turns to face James halfway and explains, "I have a meeting with Fury five minutes ago!" The door finally opens and Clint bursts out and runs down the hall to the elevator. He pushes the button for Fury's floor until the door closes the whole way. He's in so much shit for being late.

Finally arriving on Fury's floor, Clint straightens up while he walks up to the correct door. He knocks on it and goes in upon hearing the "come in" that Fury said from behind the door. 

Director Fury looks up as Clint enters the room and closes the door behind him. "Ahh, Agent Barton. You're late. Take a seat." Clint sits in one of the two chairs on the other side of the desk.

"Sir, sorry I'm late. I was telling Barnes a story and I couldn't leave him hanging," Clint explains to the director.

Director Fury nods. "You always were one to tell extravagant and long stories," Fury said, a smile playing at his lips for a second. "I called you here to discuss Barnes. Is he making progress? Talking?"

Clint sighs, lowering his head as he thinks. "Well, when I walked in, he did ask me what the fuck happened to my face, if that counts," Clint replies sheepishly.

Fury looks at him, really looks at him. "Did you tell him the story about the bet you lost with Stark?" Fury asks, a smile betraying him and breaking through to the surface.

"Yes I did," Clint admits embarrassedly. "He didn't even smile."

Fury shakes his head in disbelief. "He's a lost cause, Barton. If there's anyone who can get a breakthrough out of him, then it's you."

Clint smiles a big smile. "Aw, shucks, Director. You're making me blush."

Fury glares at him lightheartedly. "Shut up now, Barton, or you'll have to spend the night with him too."

Clint nods, still with a smile on his face. "Got it. Shutting up." He pauses, thinking. He's interrupted when his stomach rumbles loudly. "Is that all, sir, I'm starving."

"I got that, Barton. You're free to go," Fury says. He waves bye to him as Clint walks out the door, but then returns to his paperwork on his desk.

Clint stops by the cafeteria on the way to his room, wanting something to eat. He eats his food on the way to his room and then quickly takes a shower. By the time, it's almost seven at night. It's a bit early to go to bed, yet he doesn't have anything to do since Nat is on her mission. 

He could go bother Coulson, but that would require getting up from his couch. Sighing, Clint watches bad television until he gets tired enough to go to bed. He takes his hearing aids out and set an alarm on his special alarm clock that can wake up deaf people. He falls asleep on his stomach without a shirt on, like every other night. 

This night, however, is nightmare free and, instead, is filled with images of James Buchanon Barnes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a rough day for everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is longer than the other two chapters, but there's so much going on that it had to be. I hope you all like it!

Clint walks down the halls of SHIELD and thinks about his past month. It's been a good month, especially with the progress that James has been making. James has been talking more frequently and he even smiles every so often. 

Natasha is supposed to be back from her mission any day now, and Clint can't wait to talk to her again. He's dying to talk to his best friend and partner after being separated for a whole month. He really misses her.

Clint sips at his coffee as he walks in the elevator and pushes the button for the same floor for the past month. He's grown accustomed to the floor and it's white walls, white floors, and white ceilings, along with the two guards who always greet him as they open the door to James's cell. 

Clint smiles as the elevator doors open hp onto his floor and he steps out, walking down the hall. He's slightly early today, so he doesn't have to rush like his first day on the job. He still has to show his SHIELD ID card every time he wants to enter James's room, but it's not that big of a bother anymore. He's used to it now; it's like second nature to him now.

Clint smiles at the guards as he reaches them. He fishes his ID out of his pocket to show them. "Morning Brandt. Jones," Clint said, nodding to each of them as he says their name.

"Good morning, Agent Barton," Jones, the guard on the right, said. "Barnes is having a rough day so far, so be careful," he warned before opening the door to let Clint in. Clint knew what Jones meant when he walked in and the door was shut behind him. 

James is in the corner of the room with his arms wrapped around his legs and his head buried in his knees while rocking back and forth. Clint slowly approached him, making his presence obvious to James. 

James let out a whimper that killed Clint. Clint set his coffee down on the table as he got closer to James on the floor. Finally in front of him, Clint kneeled down and slowly brought his hands to James's face, caressing his cheek in a caring way.

James looks up and Clint was shocked to see tears running down his usually blank face. "Aw, James," Clint said. He moved to sit beside James and gently guided his head into his arms. 

To Clint's surprise, James didn't push away from the embrace. Instead, James welcomed the embrace and buried himself in Clint's arms and chest. They sat likevthat for an unknown time, neither of them moving away from each other. The only sounds in the room are James's whimpers and occasional sobs.

After what seems like forever, James calms down and the tears stop flowing, leaving them in silence. Clint sits with James in his arms, petting his hair as an effort to keep him calmed down and so he won't revert back to the Winter Soldier.

James finally lifts his head up, but makes no moves to distance himself from Clint. Clint decides to speak first since James doesn't seem to want to break the silence.

"James? Do you want to talk?" Clint asks. He knows he sounds cliché, but he's not the best at comforting ex-Russian assassins with metal arms and a dark past.

James began shaking his head, but he paused halfway through. He let out a big sigh and nodded. "Just a really bad dream last night is all," James said quietly with his head bowed.

Clint nods; he understands. He knws what it's like to have a nightmare and be shaken up afterwards. He still has dreams like that every now and then. "Is there anything I can get you, James? Milk? A cookie? Coffee?" Clint suggests. Clint will often seek out his comfort foods after a bad dream, so he wonders if James would too.

James thinks about it. James tends to think a lot about decisions, but it's probably because James didn't make his own decisions in more than seventy years so he just wants to make sure he picks the right thing. "Can I have a sip of your coffee, Clint?" James asks, looking up at Clint with his big, blue eyes. Clint can't say no to that face.

Clint nods. "Sure thing, J. My mug is on the table," Clint explaind. Thankfully, James understands and unwraps himself from Clint so he can get his mug. 

Clint moves away from James to retrieve his mug from the table, but he returns quickly. Clint immediately puts his arm around James again, and hands him his mug of coffee. Jameslifts it to his lips and takes a tentative sip of coffee.

"Mmm, that's good," James says after he lowers the mug from his mouth. Clint smiles and rubs at James's back in a soothing way.

"It sure is," Clint replied, taking his mug back from James. He takes a sip of his coffee and relishes in the warmth that spreads throughout his body. "You need anything, James?" Clint asks after a few moments of silence.

James shakes his head and nestles in against Clint's chest, seeking comfort. Sadly, a knock on the door interrupts them. James doesn't move away, so neither does Clint. Instead, Clint drains his plastic mug of coffee and throws it at the door to signal whoever it is can come in. The intruder is Director Fury.

Clint looks at James and, once again, he understands and detangles himself from Clint. Clint stands up and straightens himself in attention posture. "Sir," Clint said, making a show and saluting to Fury.

"At ease, Agent," Fury said. He walks further into the room so the door can close behind him. "You know how I feel about my agents being intimate with prisoners." He's serious. Clint honestly can't believe him.

"Sir," Clint begins. "I was consoling Barnes. He had a rough night," Clint explains to Fury, who listens to his explanation.

Fury nods. "I'll accept that reasoning. That's not the reason why I came here though." He pauses. It's never good when Director Fury pauses. "Agent Romanoff got in today."

Clint brightens up at the mention of Natasha, but Fury isn't his usual self. Something's wrong. "Director. What happened to Nat?"

Fury sighed, clearly thinking about how to phrase his answer so Clint won't freak out. "Natasha is hurt. Bad. She's in the infirmary right now, and she should be out of surgery when you're done here. Agent Coulson is waiting for her surgery to be done, and he will notify you when she wakes up, if it's before five o'clock. There's nothing you can do, Clint," Fury says. It must be serious; Fury almost never uses agents first names. 

Clint nods and sit back down beside James. "Is she permanently damaged?" Clint asks, looking up at Fury with his big, round eyes.

Fury shakes his head. "No. She's tough, Barton, you know that. She'll come back, stronger than ever. I'm going to go fill out lotss of paperwork now. She'll be fine, Barton." And with that, Fury leaves the cell, leaving Clint and Bucky alone.

Clint sighs. He's torn between staying here and following orders, or disobeying orders and going to be with Natasha. He decides it's best to just stay here. If he went to see Nat, he'd end up in the way. He'll just go see her after his shift.

"So, you and Natasha are close?" James asks, jumping Clint from his thoughts.

Clint nods. "The closest. I don't know what I'd do without her," Clint admits. Sighing, Clint tries to think of something to say that will change the subject. He doesn't want to talk about Natasha right now, not when she's in really bad shape. "Do you think you're ready to be getting visitors? Other than me, I mean," Clint asks, turning the focus onto James.

James thinks about his response, as usual. "I think so, yeah," he finally says with a smile to show he's serious. 

Clint smiles. "Great! Anyone specific you want to see, or do you just want me to bring in my friends one-by-one?" Clint asks, curious to see if he would like to see Steve.

James shrugs. "Do you know Steve Rogers?" 

Clint smiles and nods excitedly. "Sure do! Steve is one of my closest friends!" Clint smiles at the memories of falling asleep on the communal living room couch, but waking up in his bed the next day. He knows that Steve does it because Steve is the mother hen of the Avengers. "Do you want to meet him tomorrow, or today? We still have a few hours left until I leave for the day." 

James thinks for a moment. "Tomorrow. I just want to sit and listen to your crazy-ass stories today." Clint laughs as James describes his fantastic stories.

"Good plan," Clint says, the smile never leaving his face. "How about the time giant blobs of jello attacked the city?" Clint asks, with an amused air to his tone.

James nods and Clint starts right into the story, explaining every little detail and describing the blobs of jello with excruciating detail. He even told James about the one blob that would not leave him alone and kept encasing him within its slimy being.

James always enjoys Clint's stories, and a lot of it has to deal with how Clint tells the story. Clint explains everything in so much detail, and with a lot of hand gestures to describe his glorious tales of triumph. 

Clint is known around SHIELD as being one of the best agents, but also as THE best storyteller in the agency. He never runs out of ideas for stories, either, especially if he has to come up with an excuse on the spot, which happens a lot in his line of work.

Clint finishes up his extravagant tale of the green jello-like beings by explaining how they were defeated and fleed the planet in record time. James lets out a small chuckle when Clint explains he was finding that weird goop everywhere, and he means everywhere, for the next couple of weeks. 

The two are still sitting on the floor, side-by-side, and neither of them wanting to move away from the other. 

Clint yawns and checks his watch. 3:52 PM. Just about an hour until he can go check on Nat. He's worried about her, even though she can handle a lot and carry her own weight, sometimes she needs help just like everyone else. Clint hopes that she's her usual self and not mentally damaged. Those wounds are the hardest to heal.

James observes Clint and how he suddenly became quiet after his story. "Clint," James says, jerking Clint out of his thoughts. "Are you and Natasha a thing?"

Clint could have laughed at that question. "No, J. We're not 'a thing.' We're like brother and sister. Besides, Nat's too classy for me," Clint explained calmly, but with an amusing smile tugging at his lips.

James nods, understanding. He looks like he has another question, but he's not too sure if he should say it out loud.

"Just ask your question, James. You can ask me anything and I'll answer honestly, you know that," Clint says gently.

"Are you gay?" James blurts. He doesn't look like he regrets it, but he looks embarrassed for blurting it.

Clint laughs softly at the question. "No, J. I'm not gay. I'm pansexual." At James's confused look, Clint elaborates. "If someone is pansexual, i.e. me, then that means that they can be attracted to anyone of any gender."

James nods, but gets that confused look on his face again soon after. "But, there are only two genders?" 

Clint heaves a big sigh. "Oh boy. I have a lot to teach you within the next hour." Clint dives right into explaining all of the sexualities first. He makes sure to include as many as possible, including LGBTQIA+ and the different romances that one may feel towards other people. He explains that people can have combinations of all kinds of sexualities and romances.

Clint goes straight from sexualities to gender identities. He begins with the most known genders: cisgender and binary genders. He begins to slowly delve into the gender spectrum and he starts defining all of the different terms. Clint makes sure to include nonbinary, genderfluid, bigender, genderless, genderqueer, transgender (both mtf and ftm), and many others that Clint remembers one after the other.

Clint loses track of time as he explains and defines identity after identity, and sexuality after sexuality. He feels that it's important for James to know these terms, especially if he's going to, one day, live in the tower and be able to go outside to see other people. It's important to learn.

James is nodding along to all of the information being thrown his way. Thankfully, James understands almost everything, and what he doesn't, he asks Clint for clarification. James seems to take everything in and absorbs it. By the time Clint's done talking, James has a full understanding of all things about gender identities and sexualities. He's grateful for someone like Clint to be around everyday.

At the end of their discussion, the door knocks. Instead of Clint having to knock back, however, the door just opens up, and in steps Agent Coulson.

"Coulson. How's Nat? Is she okay?" Clint asks, instantly worried.

Coulson smiles and steps in the room the whole way, letting the door close behind him. "Natasha is okay, Clint. I'm here to relieve you. The doctors say that she'll wake up any minute now."

Clint smiles and gets up. He turns back to James. "See you tomorrow, bro. And don't forget about your visitor!" Clint exclaims happily as he follows his handler out of the room.

The door closes behind them and they walk silently to the elevator. Coulson pushes the button to the floor with the infirmary on it and they wait silently as the doors close and the elevator starts ascending.

"Visitor?" Coulson asks, breaking the silence in the elevator.

Clint smiles. "James has been making progress, so I figured he was ready for a visitor for tomorrow," he explains to his favorite, and only, handler.

Phil considers this and nods. "I hope you're right, Clint. If he's not ready, what will you do?" Coulson asks uncertainly.

Clint considers this. The elevator dings for their floor and they get off, walking towards the infirmary. "I'll detain him. If anyone can do it, I hope I can."

Coulson nods. "I hope so too." They pause their conversation for the time being. They're outside of the infirmary. 

Clint slowly opens the door and Coulson leads him silently to where Natasha is. Nat is on a very uncomfortable-looking bed near the back of the infirmary, and she's attached to several different machines, but she's still breathing. And awake, apparently.

"I was beginning to wonder when you'd show up, all-star," Natasha said to him. Clint sat next to her in the chair beside her bed. It was more uncomfortable than the bed.

"I would've been here sooner, but I had to watch the little Russian assassin until five minutes ago," Clint replied with a smile on his face. She looks bruised in a lot of places, and feels pain in more than that, but she's a fighter. She's been through worse, so she'll make it out of this.

Natasha smirks, obviously not wanting to show her pain. "You developing a crush on him, Clint? You don't just call anyone 'little'," Natasha teases.

Clint sighs and lowers his head. "No, Nat," Clint says exasperatedly. "I am not crushing on a brainwashed, Russian assassin with a metal arm. We're besties now," Clint says with a huge smile on his face.

Natasha groans. "Besties, really? Next thing you know, you'll be getting him a friendship necklace."

Clint scoffs. "Hey! I was not, at least not yet," Clint says, causing Nat to let out a small laugh. "Besides, you still wear yours!" Clint defends himself. 

Nat nods. "Yeah, I do." She yawns, trying not to move very much so she doesn't hurt herself more. The nurse comes out soon after and pushes Clint and Coulson out of the room so Natasha can sleep.

Sighing, Clint lets himself be pushed out of the room and into the hall with Coulson. They both start walking towards the cafeteria together. Coulson and Clint have known each other for years, and they've been working together just as long. 

They silently get their food and sit at a table to eat together. "So who's going to be Mister Barnes's visitor tomorrow?" Phil asks around a bite of his chicken wrap. 

Clint looked up from his pizza. "Steve," Clint answers after swallowing his bite.

Coulson nods. "Say hi for me," he says, sounding ridiculous.

"Phil," Clint started. "You can go see him at any moment you want to. He doesn't mind, in fact, he likes visitors!" Clint exclaims to his handler.

Phil just stares at him in sarcastic amazement. "I'd rather not, but thanks for the offer, Barton. You should go rest up and call Rogers about tomorrow. I have paperwork to do," Phil said, getting up to throw his garbage away.

Clint followed him and walked out into the hall. They silently walked to Clint's room together. They depart atvthe door with a promise from Phil to tell Clint how Natasha is doing every now and then.

Clint enters his room and immediately goes to take a shower. Showers always help him calm down, but he needs to take his hearing aids out for them, which is a downside. He'll talk to Stark later about waterproof hearing aids.

When he gets out of the shower, he towls off and puts on sweatpants. He walks out of the bathroom with his towel around his head while he finds his laptop.

Locating his laptop, he signs into his skype account and calls Steve up. As he's waiting for the call to be answered, he starts towel drying his soppy hair and put his hearing aids in before the call connects.

Steve answers soon after he calls him, like usual. "Hey, Clint. Why aren't you wearing a shirt?" Steve asks, amused and curious.

Clint looks down at his chest, momentarily forgetting that he doesn't have a shirt on. "Every chance I have to wear fewer than recommended clothes I take it. If I wasn't talking to you, I probably wouldn't have pants on."

Steve shrugs. "So, tell me Clint. Why are you calling me? Not that I mind or anything!" Steve asks. In true Captain America spirit, he apologizes for asking a question.

"Well, Cap, I have an invitation for you," Clint tells him. That peaks Steve's interest.

"An invitation? For what? Does this have to do with your mission," Steve asks. Man, he asks a lot of questions when he doesn't know anything.

Clint ponders these questions. "Yes, it's about my mission, and you're going to find out tomorrow what your invitation is for. Just come to my SHIELD room at 8:30 AM and I'll explain it then." Clint's starting to get excited about tomorrow with James meeting Steve for the first, unbrainwashed, in more than seventy years.

Steve nods. "Sure. I'll be there. Will you be awake when I get there?" Steve asks with a knowing look.

Clint shrugs. "Probably. Anyways, I gotta go Steve. My bed is calling me!" Clint exclaims as he looks back at his lonely-looking bed then back atthe laptop screen.

Steve laughs. "Alright, Clint. I'll see you tomorrow at 8:30. Goodnight." Steve clicks the end call button from his side of the call. 

Clint sighs and stretches his arms above his head. He gets up and tosses the towel inside of his bathroom before coming backout to put his laptop on his table. Before he forgets, he sends Coulson a quick text to come to his room tomorrow at 8:30 AM to unlock his door for Steve. 

Satisfied with the message, he hits send and shuts his phone off for the night and hooked it up to the charger. He slowly crawls into bed and then takes his hearing aids out, submerging himself in total quiet for the rest of the night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve gets introduced to James. Will they instantly become best friends again, or will it take longer to adapt to James coming back into Steve's life and vice versa? Read to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Bucky meet!! Finally, James talks with someone else than Clint! But what plan is Clint cooking up...? Onlyvtime will tel!

Someone's poking him. Why is someone poking him? The poking won't stop, so he might as well as open his eyes. Two figures are looming over his bed, but after his eyes adjust to waking up, Clint can see that it's Coulson and Steve. Is it really 8:30 in the morning? Wow, life goes by fast when you're sleeping.

He sees that Coulson is signing to him. "Are you awake?" He signs. That smartass.

Clint nods back to Coulson's question. Coulson reaches over and grabs Clint's hearing aids to give to Clint. Clint takes them with a tired, yet grateful, smile. Eager to be able to hear again, he puts them in and sits up in bed.

"Hey Phil. Steve. What's up?" Clint asks groggily. He is so not a morning person.

Phil smiles and says, "I got you a coffee. The good stuff." He hands Clint the cup and Clint takes it enthusiastically. 

Clint takes a sip of the coffee and basically moans with happiness. "Phil, you're so good to me," Clint says before taking another big sip of his coffee, not even caring if it burns half if his taste buds off.

Phil smiles and straightens up. "I try. Anyways, I need to be going. I'll keep you updated on Natasha, Clint. Bye, Captain Rogers," Phil says as he turns and exits the room. 

Clint stands up and, reluctantly, puts his coffee down. "I would change in front of you, but I'm not wearing anything else. To see that show, you have to wait till our third date. I'm a classy bitch," Clint says while winking at Steve, making him laugh softly.

"It's been too long since I talked to you in person, Clint. I missed your humor," Steve says. He sits on Clint's bed while he waits for Clint to get dressed in the bathroom. 

Clint steps out of the bathroom wearing dark blue jeans and a short-sleeved purple shirt. "Aw, Captain America missed me!" Clint says enthusiastically. He grabs his phone, shoves it in his pocket, and grabs his coffee and keys before heading out the door with Steve behind him.

They get to the elevator with the doors closed before either of them speaks again. "So, are you going to tell me about this invitation?" Steve asks Clint.

Clint nods and takes another sip of coffee before answering. "Yeah. I was waiting until we were alone. You can't tell anyone, Steve. Anyone. Not even Stark knows," Clint says, suddenly serious. "You have to promise."

Steve nods and looks Clint in the eyes as he says, "I promise I won't tell anyone."

Clint nods, trusting Steve with his word. "We have Bucky in containment." Clint pauses to let that sink in, but then continues. "I've been talking with him for the past month, and we both decided yesterday that he's ready to have a visitor now."

Steve stays quiet after this news. It's Clint who speaks up when the elevator opens. "But first, we need a chair. We're going to steal one from the cafeteria," Clint says matter-of-factly.

"Why?" Steve asks, clearly confused but also amused. 

"There's only two chairs in the room and we need one more for you to sit," Clint says as he steps out of the elevator and onto the floor.

Steve nods and walks beside Clint into the cafeteria. No one suspects anything of them to start with. They start getting weird looks when Clint picks up the nearest chair and walks out of it with Steve behind him. The other agents have a reason for staring. Hawkeye and Captain America just walked in, grabbed a chair, and walked out. It's weird to see that.

Steve and Clint head back to the elevator and get in with the chair. Clint pushes the button for the correct floor and then sits down on the chair as the elevator starts moving down.

Steve doesn't speak for the whole elevator ride, but there is a soft smile on his face. The elevator dings at their floor and the doors open up. Clint and Steve walk out, with Clint carrying the chair. Before they get within earshot of the guards, Steve stops walking. Questioningly, Clint pauses and turns back.

"Bucky is through that door?" Steve asks Clint. Steve is both doubtful and hopeful, which Clint can tell just be looking in his eyes and listening to his voice.

Clint nods, a small smile playing at his lips. "Yeah, Steve, Bucky is through that door." Clint wants to give Steve all the time in the world to think about this, but it's almost nine in the morning and he can't be late or James will get anxious. "Steve. We need to go. You'll have to show the guards your ID, so have it out, okay?" 

Steve nods and starts walking beside Clint. As they approach the guards, they fish out their IDs to show them. "Morning, boys. I brought a visitor for James today. How is he today? Good day, bad day?" Clint asks Brandt, the guard on the right.

"Morning, Agent Barton. Captain Rogers," Brandt acknowledges Steve's presence before turning back to Clint. "Barnes is having a good day today. Have fun in there." Brandt nodded in approval at their badges and opened the door for them.

"Oh, and don't tell Fury I stole the chair from the cafeteria," Clint says before walking into the room, signaling for Steve to stay outside until Clint calls him in before Clint enters.

"Hey, James," Clint says, setting down the chair on the floor and his coffee on the table. 

"Hi, Clint," James says, looking at the chair and then back to Clint. "Where's Steve? That is today, right?"

Clint nods. "Yep, that's today. By the way, I stole this chair from the cafeteria, just for you," Clint says. "Do you want to see Steve right away?" He asks.

James pauses, then nods. "Yeah. I'd like that."

Clint smiles. "Alright. He's right outside. Just a heads up, he will call you Bucky. Are you okay with that? I can tell him to call you James," Clint says to James seriously.

James shakes his head. "He can call me Bucky. Everyone can call me Bucky, but James is reserved for you," James says, looking Clint right in the eyes.

Clint feels a big smile growing on his face. "Alright, I'll bring Steve in now." Clint walks over to the door and knocks; that's the signal for Steve to come in.

Steve does enter, and then it's silent. No one moves. Frankly, it's awkward, yet really emotional at the same time. Finally, James made the move and got up from his chair. He slowly walks up in front of Steve and embraced him.

They stood like that for awhile. Clint felt like he was intruding on an intimate moment, but he couldn't leave them. It's his job to stay with James between nine and five, especially if someone else is in the room.

Finally, James stepped back and Steve clapped him on the shoulder before they both sat in their seats. Surprisingly, however, James looks at Clint to address him before Steve.

"Clint, will you sit beside me?" James asks quietly. He's not as loud as usual, but Clint guesses it's because of Steve being in the room.

"Sure thing, bro," Clint says. He moves his chair and coffee to the other side of the table to sit next to James. Clint can see why James wanted him to move, James is shaking.

James slowly moves his hand to put Clint's hand on top of his knee to calm his shaking leg. Either Steve doesn't notice, or he does and he doesn't want to bring it up. 

"How are you doing, Buck?" Steve asks, finally being the one to break the silence.

James looks at Clint before looking back at Steve. He doesn't know how to answer; he's panicking. Clint doesn't want James to panic, so he steps in. 

Clint guides James's face to look into his eyes. "It's okay, James. Just take a deep breathe and answer honestly," Clint says to him. James nods and he does, indeed, take a deep breathe. Steve watches the interaction in silence and wonder.

James turns to face Steve again and answers his question. "I'm okay, but Clint is helping me to get better," James says.

Clint smiles as he hears what James said. Steve smiles as well. "That's good. Clint's a good guy. And he tells amazing stories," Steve says. Steve's finally feeling comfortable in the cell with James, which makes Clint happy that it's not awkward anymore.

James nods. "I love listening to his stories. Some days, I'll listen to his stories all day without saying a word," James says with a soft smile tugging at his lips. Clint knew his stories were good, but he didn't know it had this sort of affect on people.

Clint wouldn't have interrupted this exchange, he didn't even do it voluntarily. It was his stomach. His stomach growled as loud as it could after James had spoken. Both James and Steve looked over to Clint, first with shock, and then with amusement.

"I guess that's my cue to ask the guards for something to eat. Anyone want anything specific?" Clint asks, getting up from his seat.

Both of them shook their heads, so Clint nodded and knocked on the door to catch the guard's attention. Clint ordered a large pizza with a few toppings on it, and the Jones said that the pizza would take about an hour to get down to them.

Clint moves away from the door after it closes and sits back down in his chair. Steve asks his friend questions, to which James responds truthfully, and vise-versa. Clint realizes what's going on after a few questions: they're getting to know each other better. They're becoming friends again.

Clint tries to not smile too big as he's hit with that realization. A few minutes later, when Steve is answering one of James's questions, Clint slides his coffee over for James to take a sip. James looks at the cup and graciously takes a sip of Clint's coffee before listening to the end of Steve's answer.

Steve, instead of directing his next question at James, he directs it at Clint. "Is he allowed to have coffee?" Steve asks?

Clint shrugs. "Fury never said he wasn't allowed it. Besides, it's the good coffee. We've been drinking the bad shit," Clint says, taking a sip of his coffee himself. "Just in case, though. Don't tell Fury." 

Steve shrugs. "I won't tell Fury. Friends come before agencies," Steve says with a lopsided smile.

Clint smiles and looks to James, then back at Steve. "Spoken like Captain America, himself."

Steve sighs, trying to stifle his laughter. "That's because I am Captain America, you dumbass," he says, making Clint and Bucky laugh.

About a half hour and several questions and answers later, a knock was heard on the door. Clint stands up to go retrieve the pizza. 

"I'll get it," Clint says. "I'm the one working right now, it's my job." Clint has a smile on his face when he returns the knock and the pizza is presented to him. "Thanks, bro," Clint tells Brandt, who delivered his pizza to him.

"Not a problem, Agent Barton. How's everything going?" Brandt asks, handing over the pizza.

Clint shrugs. "That's classified, Agent Brandt," Clint says teasingly. "Kidding. It's going well. Why, did you have some concerns about this meeting, Brandt?" Clint asks, faking serious. Even Steve wasn't sure if Clint was joking around or being serious.

Brandt shakes his head quickly. "No, of course not, Agent Barton," Brandt says just as quickly as he sheakes his head.

Clint stares at him seriously before he smiles and starts laughing. "I'm just messing with ya, Brandt! Lighten up a little. You're so serious," Clint says, still laughing softly.

Brandt just looks at him. "Just get in the room so I can close this door," he says. Clint obeys and moves back, getting the door slammed in his face.

"Wow," Clint says, turning back and sitting at the table with the pizza. "Brandt did not appreciate that very much." Clint opens the box and grabs a piece. "Dig in, guys. This is my breakfast."

Steve grabs a piece, followed by James. "Clint, it turns out that guards don't like it when you're an asshole," Steve says. "I would never have guessed."

Clint shrugs and swallows his bite before answering. "I like dicking with them though. It's fun to mess with new recruits," Clint says, taking another big bite of his pizza.

Steve sighs and rest his face in his palm for a moment before speaking. "They're not new recruits, Clint. They've been working for SHIELD for two years now," Steve says. He lifts his head up and starts eating again.

Clint shrugs and turns to James. He loudly whispers, "They're still new recruits to me," to James. Steve sighs, but this time, be can't stifle his laughter. Soon enough, all three of them are laughing into their pizza.

They finished the pizza quickly after they started eating it, despite the playful banter between Steve and Clint the whole time. The three of them were were all talking together as the hours went by and, soon enough, a knock sounded at the door.

Clint got up to answer it, knocking back so the guard knew it was safe. Jones opened the door. "Agent Barton, sorry to intrude, but Mister Rogers has to leave now," Jones said, standing in the doorway and looking directly at James.

"Huh," Clint said, looking at his watch. "Is it three o'clock already?" Sure enough, his watch said exactly three o'clock. He turned back to Steve and James. "Sorry, Steve. Fury's rules. Visitors have to leave at three."

Steve nodded and got up, so did James. "Okay, I can leave." He turned to face his best friend. "I can come visit whenever you and Clint invite me. It was nice seeing you, Buck." Steve went over and gave James one last hug before walking out of the room and towards the elevator. Jones shut the door as James sat back down. 

Clint sat back down opposite of James, in Steve's chair, and smiled across the table. "Did you have fun? I had fun, but dif you?" He asks James after a few moments.

James nods in answer. He picks up Clint's coffee cup, which was still on the opposite side if the table as Clint, and took a sip from it before giving it to Clint. "Is Steve happy at the tower? With your team?" James asks, shocking Clint with the question. Clint really should have expected James to ask that at one point.

"Yeah, James. He's happy," Clint answers truthfully. "We all are. I'm going to be bringing in a different friend of mine every time."

James just looks at him with an unreadable expression. Finally, he asks, "Why?"

Clint smiles. "It's a secret. I'm trying to work something out, but you'll like it. I know you will," Clint says. "Now, onto more pressing matters. Do you have a story you want to hear?" Clint asks with the biggest smile directed at James.

James nods, face lighting up at the mention of Clint's stories. "Will you tell me about your childhood?"

Clint visibly tenses up at the mention of his childhood. He can't see the concerned look on James's face because he started thinking about his traumatic past. He can basically feel his father slapping him for the fifth, tenth, twentieth time in a row. Clint can hear the slurs being thrown towards him and his brother after their father comes home drunk, like usual. 

Before long, he does feel a slap across his face. He shakes his head to snap himself out of it as his hand comes up to rubs at his cheek. He sees James sit back down, now with a worried and concerned look on his face.

"James?" Clint asks. Clint's just happy he didn't get slapped by the metal arm. That would have hurt a lot more.

"I'm sorry, Clint, but you got this look on your face and you started shaking. That's the only way I knew how to bring someone back," James says. He looks genuinely concerned and unsure of himself. 

Clint can't blame James for slapping him. He knows what it probably looked like to James, and it must not have been pretty. Clint downed the last of his coffee and shook his head a little more.

"It's okay, James. Thank you for bringing me out of it. That was not fun," Clint said after he calmed himself down. James nods and waits patiently for Clint to continue. "I had a bad childhood, if you hadn't guessed already," Clint says as an explanation.

James nods. "A different topic then?" James asks, hoping to make Clint happy again and change the topic.

Clint nods, a small smile growing on his face. "Yeah, J, another topic."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky's next visitor is introduced, along with their conversation. Clint falls more in love with Bucky, but tries not to show it (as in, subtle flirting/contact).

It's another week and a half before Clint brings a second person to visit James. Clint has been thinking long and hard about who the next visitor should be, and he finally decided on Bruce. Clint has decided that Bruce can keep his calm, and his presence will, hopefully, bring some peace and calmness to James.

Clint is currently walking beside Bruce as the two make their way down to James's room a few minutes ahead of schedule. Clint couldn't help but be early today. He's both nervous and excited about the meeting between Bruce and James.

They both approach the two guards in front of James's door, and show them their identification while making small talk with the guards — something Clint does everyday. Smiling, Clint enters the room first, as usual, with Bruce following slightly behind him.

James looks at Clint first, as he's the first to enter, and smiles, then gives a confused look at Bruce. He looks to Clint for an answer.

"This is Bruce Banner. He's one of my friends, and your second visitor," Clint answers James's unasked question.

James nods in understanding and he gives a little nod to Bruce as a greeting. He wasn't like this with Steve, but that's to be expected. Bruce and James have never met before now, unlike James and Steve.

Bruce doesn't want to push James out of his comfort zone, so he doesn't reach for a handshake. He knows James doesn't trust him enough yet. "It's nice to meet you, Bucky." James seems to relax at the name. Clint had told Bruce beforehand to call him Bucky and not James. Bucky only likes it when Clint calls him James for some reason that Clint couldn't figure out. "I'm honored to be your second visitor."

Clint gestured to the chairs in front of them. Bruce sat down opposite of James, while Clint sat down next to him. This is the same seating arrangement as when Steve was visiting.

Silence. Great. Clint needs to think before they sit there in silence for the entirety of the visiting time. Luckily, a knock interrupts them. 

A guard pokes his head in the door and says, "Agent Barton. Director Fury is here to see you. He requests you come out immediately." The guard doesn't leave, so Clint sighs and gets up.

"I should only be a few minutes. Talk. Bond. Become besties," Clint says to them, mainly James, before leaving the room with the guard. 

As Clint was leaving, he heard James quietly asking Bruce, "Has he always been this weird?" That made Clint smile as he left.

Clint saw Fury at the other end of the hall, his back turned to him. Clint walked up to him and said, "Sir. You requested to see me?"

Fury turned around to face Clint to speak with him. "Yes I did, Agent Barton." Silence. He doesn't say anymore, so Clint has to ask questions until he can figure out Fury's scheme of pulling him away from Barnes.

"Why, exactly, did you pull me away from my assignment?" Clint asks, trying to not sound too irritated.

Fury gives Clint a long, calculated look before responding. "Your assignment is exactly why I'm here. You seem to be getting close to Sergeant Barnes. You know how I feel about my agents messing around with prisoners, don't you, Agent?" 

Clint sighs, he should have seen this coming ever since Romamoff was a prisoner of S.H.I.E.L.D. long ago. "Yes, sir. We're just friends, and nothing else is happening. Don't worry, Director." There's a pause where no one says anything, and Clint sighs again, rolling his head to look up at his boss. "Can I go now, sir?"

Fury nods and turns away, entering the elevator and going up. As soon as Fury's out of sight, Clint turns around and walks back to the room with Bruce and James inside. The guards make him show his ID again, even though they watched his whole conversation with Fury. 

Clint enters the room and the first thing he notices is the look of calmness on Bucky's face as he walks around the table to sit beside him. The second thing he notices is that Bruce is telling James a story in his smooth, gentle voice. Clint immediately calms down and, subconsciously, lays a hand on Bucky's knee while they both listen to Bruce talk.

Several minutes later and Bruce finishes up his tale from long ago before the whole gamma radiation disaster, and then silence fills up the space again. Clint sits up straight, and goes to move his hand off of Bucky's knee, but James stops him and keeps it there. Clint tries not to blush, and he covers it up by sighing loudly and rolling his head back, then forwards slowly.

"You two are terrible. We only have three hours of Bruce in our company and you two are going to get along by the end, dammit," Clint says, looking at both of them with an intense look in his eyes.

Slowly, James looks towards Bruce, outstretches his hand, and opens his mouth to speak. "I'm Bucky. It's nice to meet you."

Bruce outstretches his hand to meet Bucky's in a handshake, rough hands meet soft. "I'm Bruce. The pleasure is all mine," he says with a light smile on his lips.

Clint smiles at the interaction, especially since James initiated it. Surprisingly, James keeps going with his talking spree.

"How did you become an Avenger?" James asks, and in his eyes is the look of pure curiosity and wonder, almost like a child.

Bruce ponders the question before answering. "I was brought in to help with the battle of New York. Apparently giant, green rage monsters are highly useful when aliens are attacking." Clint snorts at that last part, but James never takes his eyes off of Bruce, studying him and calculating him.

Satisfied with the answer, James nods. "What do you do at the tower? Do you have a certain job?" Bucky just asks one question after the other, and Bruce answers each question as truthfully and efficiently as he can. 

Bruce couldn't help but feel like he was being interrogated, but he tried to let this feeling go away seeing as he wasn't in any immediate danger. Bruce started enjoying himself, and he even asked a few questions himself, if it pertained to the topic at hand. 

At the end of the three hours, Bruce said his goodbyes and left the room, probably heading back to his labs at Avengers Tower. Clint moved around the table to sit across from James to make conversation easier now that they can see each other's faces.

"So what did you think of Brucey?" Clint asks him after he gets situated in his chair. He stretches his legs out and puts them on the table, crossing his right ankle over his left.

James put some serious thought into his response, which showed on his face only because he doesn't mind showing Clint what he's feeling. "Bruce is nice and he can tell interesting stories," he says after a minute.

Clint nods, accepting this answer. "Is there anything you don't like about Bruce? Oh, and I won't tell him if there is," Clint says, smiling softly at James.

Slowly, James nods. "Bruce is too paranoid, I think. He was constantly checking the exits, and he would jump at little noises when he first entered."

Clint sighs softly, taking his feet off of the table, sitting up straight, and resting his arms on the table. "Bruce is a very reserved guy, you have to understand that. Do you know Bruce's story and why he is how he is?" 

At Clint's question, James shook his head. He leaned forward on his arms to listen to what Clint had to say, not wanting to miss a word of it.

Clint nods, takes a deep breath, and begins talking about how Bruce became the giant, green, rage monster. "About ten years ago, Bruce Banner was supervising the work on an experimental gamma bomb for the United States Defense Department. They were counting down to test the bomb, when a teenager wandered into the testing range, completely unaware that a deadly gamma bomb was about to detonate. Bruce saw the kid and he hurried to push him out of the way, which he did as the clock ticked down to zero. Banner was caught in the blast, but he survived, with the ability to turn into the Hulk."

At this point, Clint looked into Bucky's eyes to say the next part. "Bruce had lost everything after that. He was being hunted by the military and forced into hiding. He broke up with his girlfriend, Betty, because he couldn't be with her knowing what he could turn into. Everyone viewed him as a monster after the gamma explosion. Until he joined the Avengers. That's when people started looking up to him, and it's when Bruce was finally happy to be himself, Hulk and all. Since then, he's trained The Other Guy, as the Avengers call him, to protect the people and attack the enemy. He's gotten it under control now, I think." 

Clint let that sit in as they stared into each other's eyes. Clint knew that Bruce's story impacted James; he could see it on his face. After what felt like an eternity, but really only a few minutes, James nods slowly smiling at Clint. That smile makes Clint's heart throb with affection for James.

"So, if you think about it, you and Bruce really are similar," Clint finishes. 

James nods, still smiling softly. "Yeah, you're right. I like Bruce. I think we could be friends," James says, fidgeting with his hands like he's nervous for saying his opinion.

Without thinking, Clint put his hand over James's hands to stop them from fidgeting. "Hey, stop that. You're free from Hydra now, remember? You can speak your mind freely. I promise I won't hurt you like they did, James."

They stayed like that for awhile. Clint started feeling kind of embarrassed by how he had reached over and grabbed James's hands without thinking that he started pulling away. To his surprise, James reached for Clint's hand to keep it there instead. 

Clint couldn't help but think about James's action. Feeling the tough hands of James Buchanon Barnes is officially the highlight of Clint's month. Even though Clint is pretty positive that James doesn't feel the same way about him, he's just happy to consider James a friend. And more than that, James considers Clint a friend too. That thought couldn't make Clint happier. 

After about ten minutes of sitting there in silence and enjoying each other's company, James speaks up. "Clint? Can we watch a movie tomorrow?" 

James's eyes were full of hope and innocence. It was moments like these that Clint can't believe he was once the Winter Soldier. 

"Sure thing, James. Any particular movie in mind?" Clint asks, smiling. He's kind of surprised that Bucky hasn't let go of his hand yet, but he's not complaining. 

James shook his head. "Nope. I trust you to pick something good." Wow, Clint's day just keeps getting better and better.

Clint nods once, a huge smile on his face. "Okay. Tomorrow, we'll be watching nothing but Disney movies. We'll have the guards bring us popcorn and drinks and tissues, for the sad moments." At the tissues comment, James gave him a weird look. "What?" Clint defended, "I'm a sensitive guy!"

The weird look on James's face slowly turns into a smile before he starts laughing. It's a short, hesitant kind of laugh, but it's still beautiful. Upon hearing the laugh, Clint makes it his mission to make James laugh as often as possible.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know I've been gone for awhile, and I apologize, but I've been super busy. I hope you like the chapter.

On his way to James's room, Clint had his laptop in its carrier case hanging from his shoulder, a coffee in one hand, and his I.D. in his other hand. The one guard in front of James's door, Brandt, took his I.D. And inspected it, despite seeing him everyday for more than a month.

"Okay. Your identification checks out. I just need to check inside of your bag, Agent Barton," Brandt says, returning Clint's license to him. Brandt walks around Clint to his laptop case, opens it, shuffles around inside, then closes it back up. Satisfied that nothing against regulation is in his bag, Brandt motions for Jones to open the door for Clint.

"Thanks, boys! Oh, and send in some popcorn in a little bit, if you don't mind," Clint says. He walks inside the room as Brandt says he'll order it right away before the door closes behind him. 

James is sitting at the table already, as usual, and he cocks his head to the side in curiosity as he looks at Clint's bag. Clint sets down his coffee and bag on the table so that he can put his I.D. into his wallet efficiently. Then, he opens his bag and pulls out his laptop to set it on the table.

"Movie day! I was hoping we could sit on your bed to watch movies, if that's okay with you," Clint said. Clint's been trying to leave things up to James more so that he can feel im control of his surroundings. Clint knows all too well what it's like to not be in control of yourself. 

James nods and stands up. "Sure," he said. He moved over to his bed and sat down, stretching his legs down the bed.

Clint came over and did the same thing, putting his coffee on the bedside table and his laptop in his lap. Just then, a knock was heard from the door. Instead of doing a return knock, Clint yelled, "Come in!" at the door. Slowly, the door cracked open and there stood Agent Brandt with a big bowl of popcorn.

"Agent Barton, you requested popcorn," Brandt said. He did not seem to keen on entering the room.

Clint's smile lit up his face. "Yes! Can you bring it here? I just sat down," Clint said, throwing Brandt his puppy dog face. No one could refuse that face.

Brandt sighed and stepped into the room to give Clint the popcorn. He tried not to feel intimidated by James staring into his soul from beside Clint. Clint, noticing Brandt's discomfort, looked between James and Brandt.

"Oh, right. You two haven't been introduced yet. James, this is Agent Brandt; Agent Brandt, this is James Barnes," Clint said. By the time he was done with introductions, Brandt had reached him and handed over the still warm popcorn.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Barnes. Now if that's all, I'll be resuming my post, Agent Barton. Tell me if you need anything else." And with that, Brandt walked out of the room to stand post.

A few moments of silence passed by as Clint started searching for a Disney movie to play on Netflix. He finally decided on The Hunchback of Notre Dame. 

"This is a good movie. I know you'll love it, but it is also extremely sad," Clint said. "I wish I had brought tissues with me. Don't judge me if I start crying, Barnes," Clint said, pointing a finger at James's chest. "Real men cry during Disney movies."

James shook his head but didn't say anything to object Clint's statement. Seeing no further conversation coming up, Clint hit the 'Play' button on his laptop to start the movie. 

With only a few comments from Clint throughout the movie, they got through the movie with minimal tears from Clint. Though James would never admit it, he was also getting teary-eyed.

"That movie never ceases to amaze me," Clint says, wiping away a stray tear from his cheek. "I remember the first time I showed Steve this movie. He was balling his eyes out during the whole second half. Ahh memories." Clint smiles as he remembers the scene clear as day.

James nodded, smiling slightly. "I see what you mean. I haven't seen a movie that good since Steve and I saw The Wizard of Oz in theaters."

Clint stopped typing for a moment to just stare at James with a dumbstruck expression. "You saw Wizard of Oz. In theaters." When Clint stopped talking, James looked at him and slowly nodded. He was getting confused as to why Clint was acting like this. After several more moments of silence, Clint starts laughing softly. "Wow, you're fucking old."

At that, James slapped Clint on the shoulder, thankfully with his real hand. "Hey! I may be in the nineties, but I still have the body of a twenty-five year old!" Bucky exclaimed brilliantly. Clint is ecstatic that James is acting like this because this is the most emotion that James has shown in one sitting so far! Progress!

Clint trued not to show how excited he actually was by appearing confused and commenting on Bucky's statement. "Wait. Do you know how old you are, James?" At the question, Bucky started to look unsure of himself and he started putting the walls back up. Clint did not want that to happen. "James. It's nothing to be ashamed of. When Steve first woke up after being thawed, he had no idea what year it was, or anything like that! We had to sit down with Steve to tell him everything that he didn't know, which was a lot. Just ask me a question if you don't know something. It's okay; there are no stupid questions," Clint said, trying to break down the walls that are going up behind Bucky's eyes.

James looked down at his fidgeting hands for a few minutes. Soon enough, he looked up into Clint's eyes with curiosity and determination in his own. "Clint, what year is it?" He asked in a strong voice.

Clint smiled, happy that James actually asked the question on hos mind. "The year is 2017." Clint let James process the information for a few minutes. He's going to have a serious talk with Director Fury about not telling Barnes the year it is. He's bubbling with rage, but James's voice asking another question brought him out of it.

"What year did Steve wake up?" James asked. Clint couldn't stand the look in his eyes. It was a look of pure unadulterated innocence. He had a hard time believing that this was the same man who was brainwashed and controlled by Hydra to kill many people.

Clint's smile was sincere and soft as he answered. "Steve woke up in the year 2012." Clint decided that answering James's questions would be best if he answered them straightforward and to the best of his ability, but also so that he answered the question without giving any additional information.

James nodded, clearly thinking this over. James was Steve's best friend before, and during, the war. It seems that hasn't changed at all. Suddenly, James smiled at Clint. "I just figured out I'm ninety-nine years old."

Clint smiled too, and he even let out a soft laugh. "I'm not going to be the one to put the candles on your birthday cake, that's for sure!" Clint joked. Bucky let out a small laugh at that comment.

Before Clint could celebrate his victory of making James laugh, James was speaking again. "So how about we continue our movie marathon. What's next?"

Clint beamed as he continued his search for the next movie. "We're obviously going to be watching the Brother Bear movies next. They're both on Netflix! Let's continue our Disney Movie Marathon!" Clint exclaimed as he hit the 'Play' button and sat back against the wall with James beside him.

Clint tried to ignore the feeling he got when he sat this close to James, let alone how warm James is right now. Clint wants to hug James and never let go, but he knows that will most likely never happen, so he stays his distance and focuses back on the movie.

Clint stays quiet during most of the movie, except to say 'same' after one of the characters does something stupid. They talked for a few minutes between the two movies to discuss what each of them liked in the movie, and what they didn't like in the movie. They found out that they both like and dislike the same things in the movies, which was great because they could complain to each other about the bad and inaccurate parts about each movie.

Once they play the second movie, Clint starts with playful banter by pointing at an object on the screen and saying, "You." James is confused at first, but he quickly catches on and starts doing it back. They both laugh when Clint points at a tree far off in the distance and says, "You." 

After Brother Bear 2 ends, Clint sets the bowl of popcorn aside, next to his empty coffee cup that the two of the finished during the first movie. Clint checked his phone to see that he didn't have enough time to show James another movie. Sadly, he clicks out of Netflix and goes to Pandora next. He chooses a playlist titled 'Soothing Ocean Sounds' to play, which earned him a curious look from James.

"What? I thought we could listen to some peaceful music before I have to leave," Clint said. "That, and I'm hoping to remain calm for my visit with Nat. I don't like hospitals, but she only has one more week until she can go back home." 

James nodded, and decided to venture into the life of 'Nat'. "How's she doing?"

Clint clicked his tongue in consideration as to how to answer the question. "She's strong. I think she's annoyed that she's still in the med bay." He whistled. "I'm surprised she's listening to the doctor's orders and hasn't tried to escape yet."

James huffed out a laugh; he could relate to that. "So, how long have you known her?"

To his surprise, Clint starts laughing. "Oh my, well that's a story for another day because it's so long and complicated! I'll tell it to you, but not now, or I'd never leave for the night!" Clint exclaimed, wiping a fake tear from his eye.

James smiled, loving when Clint got like this. He loves how dorky Clint can be, especially when telling his amazing stories. 

Sadly, it came to an end faster than James (and Clint) liked. Clint glanced at his watch and saw it was time to leave to go see his other best friend. "I'll see you tomorrow, James," Clint said, smiling at him. He packed up his laptop quickly and stood up. Before he moved to the door, he held out his fist to Bucky for a fist bump. It took a few seconds, but James realized what Clint wanted and reciprocated the action. Happy with the response, Clint'ssmile grew bigger and he knocked on the door to be let out.

The journey to the medical ward was short to Clint since all he could think about was James. He didn't even realize he arrived at the Med Ward until he heard a cough and saw Natasha staring at him.

"What?" Clint asks Natasha, finally sitting down in the chair closest to Nat. 

Natasha gave him 'the look' that she gives when she knows exactly what he's thinking. "You came in here and stood by my bed for five minutes with a stupid look on your face. Either you got another concussion, or you're in love."

Clint can't believe how she knows everything. He's starting to believe her when she says she's psychic. He doesn't even know if he's in love, but if Nat thinks it, then it must have some truth... right?

But Clint will never admit that. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Tasha. I was just thinking about the movies James and I watched during our session. That's it." That sounds pretty convincing.

Nat looked deeply into his eyes, it seemed like she was looking directly into his soul. "I can't tell if you're telling the truth, or you believe you're telling the truth so much you believe it to be true. You're a mystery, Clint Barton, and I intend to find you out," Natasha said with a playful smirk on her lips.

Clint smiles. Finally, Natasha can't read him like a book for once in his life. "I don't know what you're getting at, Nat. I'm not a mystery, I'm a train wreck of a person. You told me this yourself a year and a half after we met." 

Natasha laughed out loud. She threw her head back and barked out a laugh; it was so infectious that Clint couldn't help but laugh back too. 

Once settled down, Clint smiled down at his best friend. "What day will you be released?"

Nat contemplates the question for a moment. "Well, I overheard one of my nurses say if I've recovered nicely, I'll be let out in four days. I just want to get out of here and back in the gym." 

Clint shakes his head with a smile. "The doctor won't let you do anything physically demanding for a few weeks still. And that's positively thinking," Clint says. He'd know, he has plenty experience of being in the Med Ward. 

Natasha scoffs. "Bullshit. I'm Russian, Clint. I heal better when I'm more active and training. It's how I was raised. You should know that."

Clint sighed, not again. "I do know that, Nat! The doctors don't understand that, though! You have to see it from their perspective. Theyvwere trained that healing happens faster when the patient is resting and barely moving. Just give them that satisfaction of at least pretending to obey their rules. Just don't let them find out when you go to the gym."

Natasha thinks about what Clint just told her, and she finally nods and sighs. "This may be the first time I've said this Clint, but you're right. I won't let Med Ward find out about me going to the gym."

Clint smiled, happy to hear those words. "Good. Now i should probably go before the nurse starts physically hurting me with her death stare. I'll come back tomorrow after my session with James." He gets up, gives her a hug and a kiss on the top of her head. "Get some rest. I mean it, Romanoff."

The last thing he saw of Nat before he walked out, was her giving him the middle fingers. He laughed and walked back to his room with a smile on his face and a spring in his step. All in all, he had a good day. He went straight to bed in hopes of waking up the next day to see James again. He fell asleep thinking of James and what could be if he ever made a move.


End file.
